The Remote Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Service Rejected AUTH Negotiation (329636)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server SP1
  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server SP2
  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server SP3
  • Microsoft Small Business Server 2000
  • Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 SP1
This article was previously published under Q329636

SYMPTOMS

When users send e-mail to external, remote, or Internet domains, they may receive the following notification from the Postmaster or Administrator of the local Exchange server:

Delivery Status Notification

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE

Delivery to the following recipients has been delayed
someone@example.com

The user may also receive the following message indicating the time expiration of delivery attempts for the message:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

Subject: Sender's subject
Sent: Date and time that the message was sent

The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

someone@example.com on date and time
Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified. Please retry or contact your administrator.
(server.contoso.com #4.4.7)

CAUSE

This behavior may occur if the outbound security of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) virtual server or the outbound security of one or more SMTP Connectors are set incorrectly.

To verify whether this is the cause:
  1. Open Exchange System Manager.
  2. Expand Servers, and then expand ServerName.
  3. Expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP.
  4. Expand Default SMTP Virtual Server, and then expand Queues.
Remote Delivery Queues will be displayed in retry mode (A Blue Arrow).

To view the description of the queues in retry status:
  1. Right-click a queue in retry status, and then click Properties.
  2. The upper status box should read, "Retry, Remote delivery".
  3. The lower box should read, "The remote SMTP service rejected AUTH negotiation".

RESOLUTION

This resolution addresses two types of delivery methods.

Using DNS for Delivery

By default, Anonymous access is the default setting for sending SMTP mail by using DNS to all Internet domains. To resolve this behavior:

  1. Follow these steps to change the SMTP virtual server:
    1. Open Exchange System Manager.
    2. Expand ServerName, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP.
    3. Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server, and then click Properties
    4. Click the Delivery tab.
    5. Click Outbound Security.
    6. Click to select the Anonymous access option, click OK, and then click OK again.
  2. Follow these steps to change the SMTP connector:
    1. Locate, and then expand Connectors.
    2. Right-click SMTP Connector, and then click Properties
    3. Click the Advanced tab.
    4. Click the Outbound Security button.
    5. Click to select the Anonymous access option, click OK, and then click OK again.
    6. Close Exchange System Manager.

Forwarding Mail Through a Smart Host

Use an SMTP connector for this type of delivery, and set access control to the requirements of the smart host. For more information about when to use an SMTP Connector, see the "References" section.
  1. Use the preceding steps for the SMTP connector.
  2. Set the outbound security according to the requirements of the Smart host.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

REFERENCES

294736 XCON: When to Create SMTP Connectors in Exchange 2000

314961 HOW TO: Install and Configure SMTP Connectors in Exchange 2000 Server

284204 XCON: Delivery Status Notifications in Exchange 2000 Server

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/15/2004
Keywords:kbprb KB329636
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